The New Yorker has an interesting read about where Jon Gruden’s career is at today and some entertaining behind the scenes information about Monday Night Football. Even though the piece is 98% about Gruden, a quote from Jaws was easily my highlight of the article. Jaws said and repeats, trying to sell himself on what he’s actually saying, “call me crazy, but I’m really excited for Tyler Palko tonight.” And who could blame Jaws? Falco, that scrappy quarterback out of San Dimas High School, was getting his shot for the Chiefs on the big stage. Wait. Tyler Palko? He wasn’t talking about the fictional movie character, Shane Falco? Well then, Jaws you are crazy.

Another interesting thing I learned was that in 2001, People Magazine named Gruden one of the “most beautiful people.” I called shenanigans on the New Yorker until I dug this goody up. My only explanation of Gruden being named one of the “most beautiful people” is that there sure must have been a lot of uggos roaming around back then. Gruden also has some peculiar idiosyncrasies such as waking up each morning at precisely 3:17 AM and being the founder of the F.F.C.A (Fired Football Coaches Association), which is apparently real and not a made up thing that actually meets.

Even though I’ve cherry picked a few of the bizarre points of this lengthy piece, it’s actually a really informative article about the immense preparation he does for MNF and if his future is in the booth or on the sidelines. The tireless work ethic of football coaches is pretty renowned for inundating a coach until they are burned out. Gruden isn’t coaching a team anymore, but he hasn’t radically altered the way he prepares for the next game. Even though this guy (pointing thumbs at self) would never call Gruden one of my favorite announcers, it’s refreshing the change of tone MNF telecasts has taken in recent years. In the years before Gruden, the most prestigious game of the week was dumbed down to an almost insulting degree to the viewers. While he might never say a bad word about anyone on the field, at least we can be confident the announcers know what they are talking about. And shit, isn’t that the most important thing?